Meditation
Step Four - Meditation to Visualize your Thoughts as Clouds in the Sky
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In this exercise, you will allow your thoughts to move in and out of your experience without getting caught in them or trying to push them away
Key Information
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LENGTH: twelve minutes
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FREQUENCY: every day of the a week
SETTLING
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Get into a comfortable position: eyes open or close, seated position or lying down.
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As your breath moves in and out, allow it to ground you in your body and present moment. Notice any emotions present for you, and the sensations that are on your skin or inside you, for example places of tension or holding
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Imagine that you are laying in a vast, spacious field, looking up at the cloudy sky. Let yourself sink into the ground below and bring your attention to looking up at the sky, being present in the field and watching the clouds
THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS INVOLVED
4. Any thought can be placed onto a cloud, whether it is negative, positive, unpleasant or pleasant. Your job is to just be aware of the sky, noticing the clouds. When your thoughts come into your awareness, place it on a cloud and let it float on by.
5. Notice if there is space between your thoughts as if there is space between the clouds and the blue sky that lies behind it all
6. If you have thoughts about this exercise like “This is boring” or “I don’t like this”, you can just place these thoughts on clouds as well. Allowing them to pass on through
7. In case you can’t seem to let go of a thought, don’t force it to go away. Allow it to be stuck there. Let it settle on its cloud. All you are doing is observing your experience.
8. If some feelings come into your way, grant them names and place them on a cloud
9. You are becoming an observer of your own mind. You are not your thoughts. Thoughts are coming and going like the clouds above you
RETURNING TO OUR SPACE
10. Bring your attention back to this visualization of the sky and the clouds as you lie in the field. Allow that image to begin to dissolve. In this moment, bring your awareness back into your body. Feeling your breath inside, sensations on your skin, the temperature of the air, your body touching the ground and your present self fully back into your body.
11. When you are ready you can open your eyes and bring yourself fully back into the room. This practice allowed you to have space between you and your thoughts. You are not your thoughts. These will come and go, so allow room for them to pass on by, without getting entangled in them and without forcing or pushing them away.